u/Ziko116

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A lot of grottos in Ocarina of Time are pretty much copy-paste, a chest, some shallow water with a fish, a gossip stone, maybe a Deku Scrub or two or a random cow. With the remake potentially expanding the map, I feel like these reused spaces could be a low-risk way to add new content without messing with what makes the original special. Some of the enemies you find in these grottos, like Wolfos versus White Wolfos, or Gibdos and Redeads, are basically just palette swaps with a stat bump if that, just to name a couple examples. It’d be nice if every once in a while you stumbled into a grotto with something a bit more unique waiting for you like a special enemy encounter, keeping that sense of mystery instead of always knowing exactly what’s behind the entrance. And on the lore side, grottos could be a neat way to answer some of those nagging time skip and lore questions, what were certain characters doing during those seven years, where’d they end up, plus there’s already all these gossip stones scattered through grottos that feel ripe for expanding on the Sheikah during this specific time period, the whole shadow folk mystique, without needing a whole new cutscene or story arc built around any of it. Could even see a few of them turned into fast travel points if the map does get bigger, since we’ve only got a handful of teleport songs compared to something like the warp shrines in the Wild era games. Curious what the rest of you would want to see done with them.

What other uses can be expanded upon for the grotto specifically?

Weirdo proves the security guard has no power over him in the strangest way possible.

Honestly, Zelda, it really wasn’t that difficult.
The Hyrule Castle guards suck.
For starters, there’s literally a guard in Castle Town who will let you bribe him for 10 Rupees to open the gate. Apparently Hyrule’s national security is worth less than a Deku Shield.
Then the guy in Castle Town who openly talks about how he snuck into the castle before with the exact route. His little adventure is the reason they “tightened security,” yet he’s just standing around town casually telling his buddy about it. Clearly there weren’t any serious repercussions.
And even after they “tightened security,” Link can still sneak through with relative ease. If you get caught, what happens? They just throw you outside and let you immediately try again. No questions. No investigation. Nothing.
Talon gets past security while making a delivery, falls asleep near the castle, and stays there long enough for Malon to leave the ranch looking for him. Apparently nobody thought the random sleeping man behind the castle was worth checking on either.
Then you have the guard in the room full of pots who straight-up talks about how bored & tired he is and wishes there was more trouble in the world. My brother in Hylia, you are the security. 😭
You can also shoot the castle window and have a guard basically tell you, “Hey! Don’t cause any trouble!” And Chuck’s a bomb at you near the princess. Meanwhile, this completely unknown Kokiri child armed to the teeth somehow made it all the way into the courtyard and is standing directly beside Princess Zelda.
And we can’t forget the Death Mountain gate guard. Zelda gives Link a signed letter authorizing him to enter Death Mountain, and the guard eventually lets him through while cracking jokes and calling him “Mr. Hero.”
But later, when he wants Link’s Keaton Mask, suddenly this man is willing to close the gate on us if we refuse to give it to him.
Sir… are you going against a royal decree because you didn’t get your fox mask? 😂
So when Zelda turns around, sees Link standing there and says:
“W-WHAT?! How did you get past the guards?”
I’m starting to think the better question is:
How has nobody else gotten past them?

With the Ocarina of Time remake potentially giving Nintendo an opportunity to expand parts of the original game, would you want them to make the Hyrule guards seem a little more competent? Maybe more patrols, better reactions to Link sneaking around, or actual consequences for getting caught?
Or should they keep them exactly the same and preserve Hyrule’s hilariously terrible security?